Nice Ride

Interesting.... I ordered original replacement MB Oil Filter on Amazon. Photo showed original, but what I received was a different box, different logo, etc. Looks like MB made a subpar replacement to there original...

Star Parts | Quality Auto Parts | Mercedes-Benz USA (mbusa.com)

Make sure if you order MB Original, you pay for and receive it.....

Why can Mercedes-Benz StarParts be offered at a lower price?

StarParts are newly developed parts with modifications matched to the age of the vehicle and its current market value. Since targeting standardized variants are used, larger quantities can be purchased, lowering the cost for you. Further cost benefits result from the use of new production techniques and the elimination of some add-on features.

Tom in Austin

How odd, never heard of two different lines of manufacturer-branded parts for the same car. Some pretty creative segmentation going on there, maybe they feel a need to be more price competitive with aftermarket competitors?

Nice Ride

What is questionable are the comments I highlighted. Elimination of add on features.... What should current market value have to do with the quality of the parts? Lots of questions, but some vendors are Showing Photos of the Original MB Box, charging a premium and shipping Star Parts.

Tom in Austin

I'm trying to imagine the conversation with your dealer service advisor when you bring in your 5 year old car for service ... would you like MB genuine replacement parts today, or Star Parts?

It's possible with all the different models they've created in the past ten years that the number of service SKUs has ballooned. It may be they looked and determined they could cover lots of applications with a single replacement SKU and thereby simplify purchasing and inventory. For example, suppose they have thirty five different genuine replacement oil filters and figured out they could do some minor engineering changes and cover all those applications with only 20 SKUs.

W205C43PFL

Strange indeed. I understand that repairs exceed the vehicle's remaining values will result in customers getting rid of the vehicles, not always though but that seems to be the general consensus. So they make sure the StarParts don't eat up a huge amount of the vehicle's value. That theory doesn't make sense when they specifically mentioned StarParts are mainly wear and tear ones. Then they went on and compared to GenuineParts and Reman.

Hmmm, add-on features huh? Like cheaper packaging? Less labels? Worse presentation (unboxing experience???)

frostsdad

This happened to me when I purchased wiper blades for my daughter’s GLK through FCP Euro. The box didn’t contain the trim piece that covers where the blade attaches to the arm. Since it’s 12 years old and driven by a teenager, I wasn’t overly worried - but the missing trim piece does annoy me. I paid $55 for the blades because of FCP’s lifetime warranty/replacement on parts including consumable wear and tear items. No mention of StarParta until I received the shipment.